 Congratulations! You're on assignment to the best Army duty station in the world. Europe is an amazing place with so much history. It's no doubt an exciting time for you and your family. But moving to a new place can also be stressful under normal circumstances. Add in transitioning to an overseas assignment along with the nuances created as a result of the current COVID-19 environment and this move will likely be your most interesting. I think my family has done 12 PCSs at least and we've had nothing like this to contend with. So here at US Army Europe we want to help make this PCS season as stress-less as possible for you. As our nation faces a pandemic, US Army Europe's mission remains the same, to maintain operational readiness while we protect the health of the force. Within those responsibilities we will continue to take appropriate precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus to our team as well as to our host nation communities as we deliberately and systematically adjust restrictions in a controlled way. These changes will result in uncertainty at times as national and host nation policies adjust to the dynamic environment. We recognize you have concerns. This next few minutes will help you understand what to expect along your arrival and in-processing journey and we will provide you resources where you can get more information pertaining to your unique PCS situation. Welcome to US Army Europe. Over the course of my 30 more than 30 year career of PCS, too many times to count and each one of them have absolutely been unique and different and this one I think is going to be exceptionally challenging for any soldier and family that is going to have the PCS there in this time frame. For a number of reasons. One, we're going to have a lot of folks moving all at the same time. Combined with that we are currently still under a COVID constrained environment that's going to provide some other complications so I could understand that families are absolutely going to have a little bit of angst as we work through this. That said this is the time that you know we really lean on sponsors to help us through this and chains of command and I will tell you the chains of command here in the United States Army Europe are keenly focused on this PCS season and there to help. We want to ensure everything we can do possible to make it the most stress less that we can given the current environment and so we here in the HR community not just at the user command level but across the European theater are going to do everything that we can to make that the easiest move that we possibly can. Flexibility, patience and constant contact with your sponsor are the keys to a successful move. Your first stop in your PCS prep plan should be the official US Army Europe website newcomers page. Here you'll find a list of commonly asked questions, infographics about this year's PCS plan and links to new policies. This is also the launch point to find all kinds of important information you'll need for your moved Europe. There are seven major army communities across Europe known as garrisons. You can link to your assigned garrison information source directly from the US Army Europe newcomers page. Each of our garrisons have different aspects of restrictions and local rules so what you might hear happening for Rylan Faults will be different for Benelux will be different for Italy will be different for Bavaria so if you have a friend that's going to one location does it mean that what you're doing will be the same thing if you're going to a different location. As you begin your PCS planning here are the top five issues you should consider as you make your plan. So Patriot Express is the DOD contracted military airlift and that is the primary method of travel for all personnel that's soldiers, civilians, family members right now during COVID. It's especially important for personnel to be using the Patriot Express so the safety precautions are there in place for you. You don't have to worry about calling a taxi cab you don't have to worry about will my luggage fit into the vehicle that my sponsor brings you don't have to worry about any of that because it will be taken care of for you. If you are going to fly commercial first and foremost you can only do so with an exception to policy that is signed here in Europe. You need to coordinate that with the sponsor to get that in place before you book your travel and then you need to coordinate with your sponsor on how you will get picked up from what the commercial airport where you land to get to your gaining location. Everyone will quarantine for 14 days or more in some manner upon arrival. How and where your quarantine is managed will depend on several factors including at what location you will be working whether or not you are single which includes those geographically separated individuals if you're expected to stay in the barracks which is determined by availability and great occupancy policies in each garrison. Other considerations are is this your first duty station out of AIT if you're a department of the army civilian or if you're accompanied by your family determining what your quarantine plan is starts with communicating your situation with your sponsor you can also find out more on your garrison website. A few key things to think about in prep for quarantine expect to receive a COVID-19 screening multiple times and testing in the first few days. If you're arriving into a commercial airport you're subject to current host nation screening procedures at the airport as well while most can assume about 14 days of quarantine you may be required to spend up to 21 days based on the test results and contact tracing. Your restrictions while in quarantine are individual to each garrison so it's important to check out the community website for details and finally while your sponsor will help you get anything if you need it it's best to make sure you have 21 days of critical self-care items in your luggage to support your needs during quarantine things like medicines or contact lenses masks for every member of your family soaps and shampoo and for those school age kids school supplies computers headphones plus entertainment like books tablets paper and crayons service members at their first duty station and others destined to be housed in the barracks you will likely be sleeping in bays or multi-person rooms in hardened structures but it is possible you might stay in a fest tent like structure so bring basic field survival items like shower shoes towels bed linens and of course toiletries to support your comfort and needs during quarantine there will be opportunities to restock but it's best to be thoroughly prepared upon arrival rest assured whichever area you stay in was designed to accommodate incoming personnel while abiding by the strictest force protection and physical distancing standards if you're traveling with a pet there are many things that you need to do that are not normally part of a pcs within the united states in the united states you take your pet to your next location and you don't think very much about it when you're coming overseas there are many medical and legal requirements that are very by each host nation and it is the traveler's responsibility it's the pet owner's responsibility to take care of all of that information in advance and have their pets ready for travel before the day of travel owners can get more information on pcsing with pets from the usda aphis website and they have the requirements outlined based on what kind of pet you have where you're going even if it's just within the states and what the requirements for that state or for that country is department of defense schools and europe leaders expect to start the 2021 school year as scheduled and in person however leaders are watching the situation closely and will be prepared to adjust whether the education health and safety of our children is best served by virtual learning or a hybrid environment if you want to get a head start on registration you can visit doors to upload eligibility documents including orders and amendments immunization records birth certificates for k and first grades as well as a signed do dia one zero zero two form request for student records the do dia website will always have the latest information and forms you'll need the garrison school liaison officer is a great resource to get information about the schools or to request a new sponsor for your school aged children your sponsor is the most critical link between you your unit and your move talk to them early and often make sure they know your specific situation when in doubt tell them and let them determine if it's important to your move and make sure you have a way to contact your sponsor while en route to europe and upon arrival in case anything changes consider using apps like facebook messenger or whatsapp to stay connected as they don't require a cell phone service to connect and most airports have free wi-fi you can use sponsorship you know for me i think that is the center of gravity for everything else that we do it is what we're counting on is for sponsors to be exceptionally trained and knowledgeable about you know all things sponsorship if we get that right i think everything else is going to be smooth it is the travelers the person on on orders they have a responsibility to hold their sponsor to a standard to answer their questions because the sponsor has the answers um and you might not even know all the questions so make sure that you're talking to your sponsor and that you're doing more research and that you're asking your sponsor more questions if you are married or you have a family request a spouse sponsor spouses talk a different language so you get a spouse sponsor connected to your spouse and let them get connected they will feel connected to their community before they even arrive here if you have school aged children there are also youth sponsors that are available through your school liaison officer so often we hear that sponsorship is a commander's program but how i view sponsorship it's a contract between you and the individual who has volunteered to assist you and your family members these individuals will be your bestest of friends on your tour here especially in your initial days i strongly recommend you ask as many questions and do not feel that any of them are too difficult or too personal or too insignificant if you don't already have a sponsor you can click right here and request one first off your arrival in europe depends on where your final destination is germany italy or belgium now these countries are where the bulk of personnel are however there may be other countries that might be your final destination your sponsor will help you figure out the arrival plans for you if you're destined to work in a country other than these three each area has nuances to how they bring people in to the airports you're going to go to what you're going to do within your quarantine restrictions whether you live on post or off post this that the answer is it depends so talk with your sponsors talk with your gaining units to get specifics to where you're going your sponsor will help you arrange for lodging in many cases pick you up from the airport but this is also subject to certain conditions according to your community quarantine plan deliver meals or purchase groceries on your behalf during quarantine if required this is based on many factors some hotels will have kitchens some won't and some soldiers will have access to dining facilities pick up necessities at on post facilities help you apply for housing we highly recommend making contact with the housing office before you leave your previous studio station the stop movement instituted earlier this year has affected thousands of soldiers and families moving to europe and frankly the world we already know pcsing is one of the most stressful events in a military family's life we want to do everything we can to make this pcs as stress-less as possible we promise you as we make decisions and develop plans affecting your personal and professional lives leaders across us army europe are dedicated to putting people first and communicating the plans consistently while helping you have the best move possible so remember the us army europe website should be your anchor site during this move we look forward to seeing you here soon take care and welcome to us army europe